Wake Me Up Inside
by girlfromsouth
Summary: Wes and Faith set mid-"Release". An interesting chat. For the second LJ Flashficathon


Faith was having trouble sleeping.   
  
Wesley's couch was uncomfortable and lumpy, and the fact that she'd just gotten her ass handed to her by that Beast thing wasn't helping. She was bruised in places she never realized could.   
  
Faith heard strange noises when she got up for a glass of water. It sounded... weird. She turned and saw nothing, padded across the room and pushed open the bedroom door.   
  
The weird noises were coming from Wesley. God, was he crying? No, he was still asleep, as far as she could tell.   
  
He was wrapped up tightly in his sheets, clearly having some kind of nightmare. Faith was embarrassed; clearly these were sounds she was never even supposed to know Wesley had the ability to make. He was talking now, something she wasn't able to make out, about being sorry, so sorry. That he hadn't meant it.  
  
Faith took a breath. She had enough of those dreams for both of them; she knew what they were like. Reaching a hand out slowly she touched Wesley's shoulder.   
  
"Hey," she whispered. "Hey, Wes, it's okay. It's just a dream--"   
  
Wesley woke with a start, sitting bolt upright and grabbing her shoulders with both hands. There was a wild look in his eyes.  
  
"Hey!" she said, louder than she intended. "What the--"   
  
Recognition came swiftly, and Wesley dropped his hands away as though she'd burned him. He was shirtless, shaking, and looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "What--is something wrong?"   
  
"You were having a nightmare."   
  
"Oh," he looked down. "Well, they've been rather frequent lately. Sorry if I woke you."   
  
"I was up. It sounded like you were in pain."   
  
"I-- Well, I suppose I was. Thank you."   
  
Faith took another deep breath. She was all about being reaching-out girl now, right? "Do you want to talk about it?"   
  
Wesley cocked his head and looked at her quizzically, "You do realize that sounds extremely odd to me, don't you?"   
  
Her eyes drifted down to the scar that swirled over his ribcage and she blushed, remembering the jagged glass she'd used to carve it there. "Yeah. Look, you probably want to go back to sleep, or whatever." Faith backed away.   
  
"Ah-- Faith, I'm sorry. I didn't mean--" Awkwardly, Wesley ran a hand through his hair. "I know this is strange for you, too."  
  
"Eh. Beats jail any day," she said flippantly.   
  
Wesley smiled wryly, "Well, I imagine it must. Though whether I ought to be insulted by that or not, I'm not entirely sure."   
  
"C'mon," she said, grabbing his hand."Let's have some coffee or something. I know I'm up for the rest of the night."  
  
Coffee was prepared and they poked around Wesley's kitchen until they found doughnuts that weren't entirely stale. Smirking when she located the bar, Faith spiked their drinks liberally. They sat together on the sofa in silence.  
  
"What if I can't stop Angelus?" Faith asked softly.   
  
"You will. You were born for it."   
  
"I'm a killer, Wes. I was born to take him down, not show him the path of righteousness."   
  
"Well," he said philosophically, "if it comes to that, so be it."   
  
"What's happened to you?" Faith asked. "You were always about second chances before. Hell, you let me have one, and God knows--"  
  
"Things change." He sighed. "I didn't want to give you anything---that was all Angel's doing at the end. I'm glad that I was wrong, on that count. You--I know what it must've taken for you to keep yourself cooped up there."  
  
"Nah, total picnic. Well, aside from the lack of sex thing."  
  
"I've had quite enough of that, I think. Wesley spun the spoon in his coffee around and took a sip. "Good Lord, what did you pour in here?" He made a face.   
  
"Not possible," Faith scoffed. Suddenly understanding flashed over her face. "Hold up--that's what your nightmares are about!"  
  
"Her name was Lilah. Angelus killed her."  
  
"Girlfriend?"  
  
"Not exactly."  
  
Faith snorted, "Yeah, I've had a couple of those 'not exactlys'. Sure didn't moan their name in my sleep."  
  
Wesley shrugged, "I couldn't...love her the way she wanted me to. That's not even it, really, because I imagine I almost did...just something was wrong."  
  
Turning to face him, Faith touched his arm as she spoke, "Look, Wes, I know you're all new to the dark side or whatever, but there's nothing wrong with the fact that you just thought she was a good lay. Even if you were all squishy about her, but didn't see it going anywhere, anyway. Things happen.""  
  
Wesley suddenly laughed, "I'm taking dating advice from you, of all people How odd." His fingers brushed over hers.   
  
She started at his touch but didn't pull away. "I've been there," she shrugged.   
  
"I suppose you have." Wesley's voice was low.  
  
"Look, you don't have to sit out here and make small talk with me if I still make you nervous or whatever."  
  
Wesley smiled darkly and indicated the scar that swooped over his throat with a finger. "Sorry. I'm afraid after this? You aren't quite striking fear into my heart with your presence."  
  
"Sure. Encourage my low self-esteem." Faith smiled as she spoke and Wesley burst into laughter.   
  
Suddenly he was sitting closer to her than either of them realized. Faith traced his scar with her hand.   
  
"You...quite baffle me," Wesley muttered as he watched her, a strange look in his eyes.  
  
Faith leaned forward, feeling a pleasant warmness spinning all through her body and refused to decide whether it was caused by the booze or Wesley. "I'm wicked interesting."  
  
"A woman of many surprises," he said softly.   
  
Their faces had suddenly moved to within mere inches of one another's.   
  
"Like I said," she breathed, "things happen," Faith kissed him then, and slid closer. She pressed her body against his and ran her fingers up into his hair.   
  
Wesley broke the kiss. "Faith---I don't know--"  
  
"Shut up," she murmured and kissed him again. 


End file.
